Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) performance in Iran; decision making during disasters.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Hospitals are cornerstones for health care in a community and must continue to function in the face of a disaster. The Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) is a method by which the hospital operates when an emergency is declared. Hospitals are often ill equipped to evaluate the strengths and vulnerabilities of their own management systems before the occurrence of an actual disaster. The main objective of this study was to measure the decision making performance according to HICS job actions sheets using tabletop exercises.

Methods

This observational study was conducted between May 1st 2008 and August 31st 2009. Twenty three Iranian hospitals were included. A tabletop exercise was developed for each hospital which in turn was based on the highest probable risk.

SUBMITTER: Djalali A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3296571 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature